Pho Gabo Owner Sues City for $2.4 Million, Claims Discrimination

Eddie Dong, owner of the Vietnamese restaurant Pho Gabo, sued the city of Portland for $2.4 million in a complaint filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Dec. 11.

The case claims discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Mr. Dong suffered grief, public shame, public humiliation, public embarrassment, anger, mental anguish, anxiety, and loss of personal or professional reputation,” the lawsuit says. Dong is being represented by the law firm Kell, Alterman & Runstein.

The lawsuit lays out the entire saga of Pho Gabo, which was a Vietnamese restaurant at 7330 NE Fremont St. (Dong still owns two other locations of Pho Gabo, in Hillsboro and Happy Valley.) On March 14, 2022, one “anonymous citizen” filed an initial complaint with the Portland Bureau of Development Services alleging that Pho Gabo “repeatedly produced the odors of grilled meat.” The citizen followed up over the next two years with voicemails, email and at least one “monthly complaint observation log.”

In November 2023, the city began to fine Dong’s landlord, Everist Properties, based on site inspections. The notes taken by the BDS inspector said that the area smelled “like a wok dish.” The lawsuit documents all of the efforts Dong took to mitigate odors, including cooking meat at his other locations of Pho Gabo and driving it over to the Fremont Street restaurant. Facing mounting fines, Dong decided to close the restaurant in February.

The suit claims that the city treated Pho Gabo “differently than other restaurants and restaurant owners because of Mr. Dong’s race and national origin, and the perceived race and national origin of Pho Gabo,” and therefore denied Dong “full and equal accommodations.”

The $2.4 million is divided between $900,000 in economic damages and $1.5 million in compensatory, noneconomic damages.

Last month, the Portland City Council amended the city’s odor code in response to the closure of Pho Gabo.